


When You're Sober

by eahuhse



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Angry David Jacobs, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Break Up, Canon Era, David Jacobs/Jack Kelly-centric, Drunk Jack, Drunk Kisses, Friends to Lovers, Jack Kelly is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Mentioned Katherine Plumber Pulitzer, Pining David Jacobs, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-15
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:21:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24190483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eahuhse/pseuds/eahuhse
Summary: After the strike is settled, Jack and Katherine are enjoying their new relationship while David is forced to watch the man he's attached to fall for someone else. But when Katherine and Jack split up, and Jack makes advances on David, what will he do?
Relationships: David Jacobs/Jack Kelly, Jack Kelly/Katherine Plumber (mentioned)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 65





	When You're Sober

Davey couldn’t deny that watching Jack kiss Katherine made his stomach twist. With the strike settled, he had decided to busy himself with work to distract himself from the newly formed couple. The only problem being that Les still obsessed over Jack, and they still had their deal going to split extra papers every day. As Davey sold his last copy of the evening edition paper, he heard Les talking to an all too familiar voice.

He steeled himself before turning around to see Les and Jack walking towards him. Davey counted Jack’s money and handed it to him wordlessly, taking Les’ hand as he walked away.

“Hey, Davey!” He stopped, looking back at Jack. “We did good.”

“Yeah, we did.” Davey muttered, and Jack walked off into the evening light.

Davey spun back around and walked with Les towards home. The walk was mostly silent, and Les could feel his older brother’s tension in every step they took.

“Did I do somethin’ wrong?” Les asked, and Davey smiled down at him.

“No Les. I’m just tired.”

 _Lies_.

* * *

Davey was often “tired” in the weeks following the strike. He managed to bond with Jack still, as he kept his relationship with Katherine out of selling papers. However, he would often disappear for a good hour to draw his daily cartoon and give it to Pulitzer for approval.

That hour was Davey’s hour of relaxation, where he didn’t have the voice in his mind reminding him how Jack would never be his. He could sell the rest of his papers and find Les with Crutchie a few streets over, they’d talk and make their way out to get the evening edition. Jack would meet them at the distribution gate, giddy and ready to go. The evenings were usually uneventful, as Jack had noticed how much Davey tensed when he talked about Katherine. So he often just tried to talk with his friend about news-related issues. How were the other Newsies doing? How was his father? Things that allowed for light, civil conversation.

Jack couldn’t deny that he liked spending time with Davey, and he found himself spending more and more time with his fellow union leader. Especially when Katherine kept making excuses to not spend time with him. It worried him, but she was busy writing her stories and that surely took lots of time. Davey was just the one person he could always rely on, which was something he never planned on. He always kept his problems to himself, he had a reputation to uphold.

In Katherine’s absence, he couldn’t deny that he did occasionally spend more time admiring Davey than he previously had. He was slightly taller than Jack, and he was still growing into his body. He had put on muscle since he started selling papers, his shirts fitting a little tighter than they used to. But what really caught Jack’s attention was his eyes. The same eyes Jack had spent nights trying to recreate on paper and failing consistently. Jack knew it wasn’t a good look, especially with someone as amazing as Katherine by his side. But he couldn’t help the attraction that drew him back to Davey time and time again, and he wanted to figure out exactly what it was before he could completely let go of it.

* * *

One afternoon, Jack didn’t return from his trip to see Pulitzer. He didn’t buy any papers, and none of the other Manhattan Newsies had seen him. Davey tried not to panic as he arranged for one of the other boys to walk Les home, while he went with Crutchie to the lodge house to see if Jack was there.

Race met them at the doorway, eyes wide and mouth moving a mile a minute, his words muffled slightly from the cigar he insisted on keeping in his mouth.

“Oh thank god yous is here. I come back from runnin’ the evening pape and I hear ‘im upstairs. I goes up to check an’ he got some alcohol or somethin’ an’ won’t give me none!”

“Race that’s not our priority.” Davey interrupted, and Race stopped to catch his breath.

“Fair, he’s on the roof. Won’ come down for nothin’.” Davey nodded and let Race help Crutchie inside while he ran up the stairs to the top, before climbing out the window and up the fire escape.

Jack was drunk, and Davey didn’t like it one bit. He was walking around shouting at the top of his lungs and likely keeping half of the city awake.

“Good ol’ Captain Jack loses again!” Jack shouted, taking a drink from the bottle in his hand.

He had yet to notice the other boy’s presence. Davey watched Jack for a few minutes, but most of what Jack said was incoherent due to the amount of liquor he had consumed at that point. He was also walking dangerously close to the edge of the roof, so Davey finally stepped forward and grabbed Jack by the back of the shirt and pulled him over to the pile of pillows and blankets Jack lovingly called the best bed in Manhattan.

“Oh ho ho! Look who’s ‘ere.” Jack’s voice slurred as Davey pushed him down into the pillows and snatched the bottle from his hand. He ignored Jack’s protests as he threw the bottle at the building opposite, watching it shatter on the roof.

“What the fuck Jacobs?” Jack yelled, and Davey tried to ignore him as Jack continued to curse. “That was a week’s worth of papes.”

“Yeah so maybe you should save your damn money!” Davey yelled back.

“Oh yeah, Mr. High an’ Mighty Davey.” Jack mocked a salute as he stumbled back to his makeshift bed.

“Well, at least I’m not drunk.”

“I ain’t drunk.”

“Mmhmm, whatever you say Jack.”

Davey sat with him on the roof, waiting for Jack to either calm down or fall asleep so he could go home. Instead, Jack began sobbing into his pillows. Davey quickly moved to pull his friend into a hug, letting Jack's tears stain his shirt. He pulled Jack’s hat off, running his fingers through the other boy’s hair.

“She left me.”

“What?” Davey asked, wanting to make sure he had heard Jack right.

“Katherine, she left me. Said her fucking father ain’ happy with us. We ain’ ‘polished’ enough.”

Davey awkwardly adjusted Jack in his arms so he could look at him properly. Jack cried and let his emotions wash over him, curling into Davey’s touch. He felt safe in the other boy’s arms, as much as he didn’t want to admit it. Katherine had just broken up with him, he shouldn’t be looking for someone new. It would make him look like he had been waiting for it. But he couldn’t help himself. He reached up to touch Davey’s face, and the other boy smiled down at him.

Without thinking, he jumped up and pressed his lips to Davey’s. The taller boy’s arms flailed before grabbing hold of Jack’s hips, but he quickly pushed Jack off of him.

“Jack! What are you doing?”

“You don’t want this?”

“You’re drunk, you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Davey please, I want to kiss you.”

“Kiss me when you’re sober, I’ll know you mean it then.” Davey muttered before covering Jack with the blankets and storming off the room.

He made his way through the lodge house, waving quickly at the others and trying not to cry. He felt heart broken, knowing that any kiss with Jack he would get would be when he was drunk and couldn’t remember the next day. He made it to the street before he broke down in tears, and hid in the alleyway to cry it out and hope no one would notice. When he composed himself, he walked home and made it through family dinner before going to sleep and crying his heart out into the night.

* * *

The next day, Jack was selling with Davey. Jack had a splitting headache and complained every minute he wasn’t talking to a customer. Davey’s eyes were red and he had dark bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep and constant tears that had occurred the night before.

When they had sold out their morning edition, they walked together towards the corner where Les and Crutchie were still selling. Before they could reach them, Jack grabbed Davey and pulled him into a small side street.

“Jack what the hell are you-”

Davey was cut off when Jack once again pressed his lips to Davey’s, kissing him slowly and passionately. When they pulled apart, Davey’s cheeks flushed red and he glared at Jack.

“What the fuck was that?”

“You said last night, I gotta kiss ya when I’m sober to show I means it.”

“Jack,” Davey paused to try and find something to say, “you know we can’t do anything in public. You just left Katherine, you’re rebounding.”

“I’ve been thinking about you for weeks Dave, since Kat was being distant.”

Davey’s eyes widened, and Jack leaned forward to kiss him again. The taller boy leaned into the kiss, his hands cupping Jack’s face as they kissed gently. Before Jack could push things further, Davey put a hand on his chest and separated them.

“Slow it down cowboy. We gotta see Les and Crutchie.”

“Fine, but you have to see me tonight. I’ll make it all up to you.”

“I’ll hold you to it Kelly.”


End file.
